When asked about the loss of 10,000 people across the state who have died from the coronavirus, Amina Mohammed, Worcester youth poet laureate, says it breaks her heart and urges everyone, especially young people, to think of "us" when making decisions, rather than thinking solely of themselves and their own desires. Mohammed joins host Arun Rath on GBH's In It together to reflect on the grim milestone and share how poetry is a way for her to process her childhood, while also processing the news and current affairs.
The daughter of immigrants — her mother is from Liberia and her father is from Ghana — Mohammed says that experience plays heavily into her poetry. "I definitely feel like even though we all have different struggles, we can all relate to an aspect of that struggle," she tells Rath. "That it's not easy for immigrants in this country."
"A lot of times in society we tend to talk past each other. It's a whole lot of yelling. My struggle is different from your struggle."
Mohammed, who is a student at UMass Lowell, reads Rath a poem about her childhood, where she processes how her parents were missing from her life because they were working long shifts to keep her family above water. She also calls for finding common ground through our differing life experiences, as well as more understanding and appreciation for the immigrant experience in America.
Listen to the full conversation with Mohammed on Thursday, November 12 at 6:30pm on 89.7 GBH.
